To quit my job over this woman?

[wrongrabbithole]

Ok so it’s not personal to me as I’ve seen her do it to others but wow …

This woman will escalate every single tiny thing we do that she doesn’t like. If I use a font size she doesn’t like she escalates it to my manager, I’ve seen her make my colleague cry with frustration.

I have to submit my work to her as part of risk management and even my manager has admitted she’s now just looking for anything to escalate.

it’s draining. I’m tired. This woman is protected and been there a long time. Numerous others have quit before her.

I’m at the point where I’m going to sleep and waking up with anxiety.

Oh so you need to fix whatever she is raising. Yeah that’s annoying. Why can’t your manager do it?

If you don’t care about the job I would consider raising a grievance and say she is impossible to work for

I should imagine that is soul destroying. If she's just being difficult for the sake of it, would there be any milage in pushing back with a 'why do you want this changed'? Maybe she'll back off a bit if she has to give a genuine business related explanation for the change and presumably can't? Just a thought.

How can people (and I mean posters on here) just say ”why do you let it get to you?” ? Like it’s your problem.

I don’t understand (or believe really) this lizard brain mentality. I know there is job satisfaction, self-esteem, contribution to society blah blah. But really 90% of us work for the money. If they didn’t pay us we wouldn’t turn up. And then having to put up with some tosser who really annoys you. Sod that! That type of person turns a manageable/pleasant way of spending your working hours into something unbearable. Like a stone in your shoe.

If I were you, I would request a 1:1 with your manager.

Start by ask if they are happy with your work

Then tell them that your dealings with this lady and completely demoralising and soul destroying.

Tell your manager that as they've previously agreed "she's just looking for faults at this stage" that you are asking for their support in addressing it.

A manager's role is to manage & get the best from their team. By tolerating this, your manager is not doing their job correctly.

Because so many people seem to think they have no control over the way they feel, more so over the last couple of decades. And it's just not true. If you learn how to brush off this type of thing you have a much better life with far more freedom to feel good in more environments.

Sorry you’re going through this - it sounds rough.

While you look for another job, can you put the ball in her court and say ‘thank you for the feedback. Could you share the style guide/handbook to follow for future approval submissions?’

Without knowing the exact set up in your place and what her role is, can you ask your manager to veto the changes she has asked for?
Next time she escalates something needless, ask your manager to intervene to tell her her that the changes she has requested are not necessary and to process your submission.
It sounds like a toxic set up - she has all the authority to veto your work without management responsibility and without being answerable to your manager.

in that case fuck it; start looking for something else. You arent happy, youre becoming unwell, youre looking different, youre stressed and its giving physical symptoms. Hell i'd even go the the GP and get signed off sick with stress. I recommended this to another colleague last year, she was off 3 months and is now in a different part of the business. Life is too short to stay somewhere that is negatively impacting you so severely. It might not happen immediately, but make strides toward it. Dont let this woman and this situation have such a negative impact on your life.

Good luck

It’s tough. I think it’s almost a power trip. It makes her feel superior. Like she’s the only one who can do this work properly. And they always copy in a million people, unless it’s something they’ve done wrong, when they’re suddenly very happy not to bother every manager between here and Timbuktu.

Are you producing work in a similar format each time? I think I’d be inclined to respond saying that you note she doesn’t have a SoP for the work she’s responsible for checking so you’ve been left to largely guess what her preferences are. If she can either give you a list of bullet points with her preferred fonts/sizes/anything else she’s moaned about, or better still, provide you with a best practice example of her requirements, then you’ll ensure your work meets those going forward, as you understand the importance of a consistent approach.

And then when you get your new job, you can tell her you’re leaving because she’s insecure, weak and pathetic and everyone hates her (once you’re totally sure it’s a bridge you’re happy to burn!)

Just look on the bright side. You have a job where you don't have to spend your day pulling people up on font size! I would keep that in mind the next time it happens and feel grateful 🙏

I find it unbelievable how some firms have such poor management and HR, in that they don’t look out for the welfare if their colleagues and cannot see how fricking ridiculous, petty and bitchy this woman is! Boils my blood this kind of thing! Can’t your higher manager do anything?

I know u have to leave op for your well-being, but she has won again, bullied out someone else! At my company she would be in big trouble acting like this